Grading 3-Team Wil Myers Blockbuster Trade Between Rays, Padres, Nationals

A week after one of the craziest winter meetings in recent memory, we have another huge trade in the MLB world.

According to reports, the San Diego Padres have acquired 2013 American League Rookie of the Year Wil Myers from the Tampa Bay Rays in an 11-player, three-team deal.

The move is still pending physicals, so it might not be announced as official for some time, but all sides have agreed to the terms.

It's worth mentioning that the physicals are not a simple formality in this deal, as Myers is coming off a season in which he was plagued by wrist problems and eventually underwent wrist surgery, but we'll talk more about that in a minute.

That list of names is a lot to digest, so let's take a team-by-team look at the particulars of the deal, give a quick rundown on each player and hand out a preliminary grade to all three clubs.

San Diego Padres

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

From TB: RF Wil Myers, C Ryan Hanigan, RHP Gerardo Reyes, LHP Jose Castillo

The San Diego Padres set out to add offense this winter after ranking dead last in the majors in OPS (.634), batting average (.226) and runs scored (535) last season, and they have done just that with the additions of Matt Kemp and now Myers.

This is the second time Myers has been the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade, as he originally joined the Rays in the seven-player deal that sent James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City Royals.

After winning Minor League Player of the Year honors in 2012, Myers opened the 2013 season in Triple-A, eventually making his big league debut on June 18.

The Rays were 36-33 (.522) at the time of his call-up but would go 59-38 (.608) the rest of the way to claim a wild-card spot, as the spark Myers provided their offense was undeniable.

Despite playing in just 88 games, Myers would run away with AL Rookie of the Year honors, receiving 23 of the 30 first-place votes to beat Jose Iglesias and Chris Archer by a wide margin.

Expected to take the next step toward stardom in 2014, Myers was instead limited to just 87 games after suffering a fractured wrist. Even before the injury, his numbers were down across the board.

Year	AB	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS+	H	2B	HR	RBI	R	WAR
2013	335	.293/.354/.478	131	98	23	13	53	50	1.9
2014	325	.222/.294/.320	77	72	14	6	35	37	-0.9

His struggles at the plate after returning from wrist surgery in late August were to be expected, but the injury does not explain his .227/.313/.354 line over 198 at-bats prior suffering the fracture in a collision with teammate Desmond Jennings.

So what's to blame for his early-seasons struggles? An interview with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times may have shed some light on the issue.

"

Last year I came into spring training wanting to prove to everybody, wanting to prove to a new team what I can do. And this year I kind of came into spring training thinking I had already arrived and didn't really work as hard as I should have, like I did the year before. It's one of those things where I have to get back to proving to people what I can do instead of feeling like I already arrived.

"

Is this an example of a young player learning a lesson and taking accountability for his actions or a sign of things to come? For the Padres it's a chance worth taking.

Myers is under team control through the 2019 season, and he won't even be arbitration-eligible for another two years. If he can return to his 2013 form, he'd give the Padres a young piece to build their offense around alongside the aforementioned Kemp.

Add in the fact the Padres were able to keep their top four prospects—catcher Austin Hedges, outfielder Hunter Renfroe, right-hander Matt Wisler and left-hander Max Fried—and the deal is a slam dunk for them.

Also heading to San Diego in the deal is veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan, as the team swapped backstops and shipped Rene Rivera to the Rays.

Al Behrman/Associated Press

The Padres are now set to enter the season with Hanigan and Tim Federowicz, who was acquired in the Kemp deal, as their catching tandem.

For a team that ranked fourth in the majors last season with a 3.27 ERA, that's not an insignificant area to be shuffling. But Hanigan is widely regarded as a great handler of pitching staffs, and Federowicz brings some offensive upside.

Hanigan hit .218/.318/.324 with 14 extra-base hits and 34 RBI in 225 at-bats last year but was still a 1.3 WAR player thanks in large part to his defense.

A pair of pitching prospects will also be joining the Padres in left-hander Jose Castillo and right-hander Gerardo Reyes.

Castillo, 18, has spent the past two seasons pitching in the Rookie League, posting a combined 5.60 ERA and 1.330 WHIP in 35.1 innings of work.

He was ranked as the No. 28 prospect in the Rays' system by the Baseball America Prospect Handbook, via the Tampa Bay Times, heading into last season.

The Venezuela native signed for a $1.55 million bonus in 2012, the second-largest bonus of that year's international class. He has tremendous upside given his age and a repertoire that includes a mid-90s fastball, slurve and changeup.

He's still incredibly raw, but he could be a huge part of this deal when we look back on it five years from now.

Reyes, 21, was signed out of Mexico and made his pro debut last season at the Low-A level. He pitched to a 4.09 ERA and 1.242 WHIP with 10.6 K/9 in 20 appearances out of the bullpen.

He was not ranked among the team's top 30 prospects but gives the Padres another young arm with some upside.

Grade: B+

The health of Myers is going to be the determining factor in this deal for the Padres, and it's at least a moderate red flag. But considering what they gave up in the deal it's hard not to like the move. The inclusion of Castillo in the trade was a nice score as well.

Tampa Bay Rays

USA TODAY Sports

From SD: C Rene Rivera, RHP Burch Smith, 1B Jake Bauers
From WAS: OF Steven Souza, LHP Travis Ott

Perhaps the Rays know something we don't about Myers because this certainly does not look like the sort of "can't refuse" deal most were expecting to be offered up for the team to part with the young slugger.

Steven Souza gives them a quality young outfielder who should be able to immediately step in as a replacement for Myers, but he does not have nearly the same ceiling.

The 25-year-old had a terrific season in Triple-A last year, hitting .350/.432/.590 with 25 doubles, 18 home runs, 75 RBI and 26 stolen bases in just 346 at-bats before earning a call-up to the majors.

He was just 3-for-23 in limited action for the Nationals, but he did make a name for himself when he recorded the last out of Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter on the final day of the regular season with a diving catch.

The other big piece heading to the Rays is right-hander Burch Smith, who entered the 2014 season as the Padres' No. 8 prospect, according to Baseball America.

Forearm tendinitis limited Smith this past season, but he was 6-3 with a 2.63 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 93.1 minor league innings in 2013, and he has the stuff to be a plus starter in the very near future.

With a fastball that can touch 97 mph and a plus slider-changeup combination to back it up, the stuff is there, and a move to the Rays organization is always a positive for a developing pitcher.

As mentioned before, catcher Rene Rivera is also heading to the Rays to replace Hanigan, and he should be a significant offensive upgrade while still providing terrific defense.

Rivera, 31, bounced around early in his career before a breakout season at the plate this past year in San Diego. He posted a .751 OPS with 18 doubles and 11 home runs in 294 at-bats.

That offense, combined with his terrific defense, made him a 3.1 WAR player, which was good for eighth among all catchers.

Despite his age, he is controllable through the 2017 season, so he could at least be the short-term answer to the Rays' catching situation.

Also heading to the Rays is a pair of lower-level prospects in first baseman Jake Bauers and left-hander Travis Ott.

Bauers, 19, was a seventh-round pick in the 2013 draft out of high school, and he is already well-ahead of the curve after spending the 2014 season in Single-A.

He more than held his own as one of the younger players at the level, hitting .296/.376/.414 with 18 doubles, eight home runs and 64 RBI. That plus-plate discipline certainly fits the Rays' organizational philosophy, and he could move quickly if he continues to hit like he has.

Ott, 19, was also taken in the 2013 draft as a 25th-round selection, and he has some projectability with a lanky 6'4" frame that should fill out as he progresses through the minors.

The southpaw had a 3.05 ERA and 1.241 WHIP in 10 starts at the Low-A level but ran into trouble when he was promoted to Single-A, as he pitched to a 7.59 ERA in three starts.

He's a work in progress, but again, it's never a bad thing for a pitcher to join the pitching factory that is the Tampa Bay Rays' farm system.

Grade: C-

This is a talented package of players for the Rays, but the fact they were not able to pry any of the aforementioned prospects from the Padres in the deal makes it a tough one to understand. They'll look like geniuses if Myers fails to return to his rookie form, but right-handed power is in such short supply it's hard to believe they couldn't get more in return.

That said, Smith has a ton of upside, Souza is a solid player and upgrading from Hanigan to Rivera at catcher is by no means an insignificant part of this deal.

Washington Nationals

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

From SD via TB: RHP Joe Ross, SS Trea Turner (as PTBNL)

Similar to the Seattle Mariners flipping Nick Franklin for Austin Jackson as their involvement in the David Price trade this past July, the Nationals swooped in as the third team here and may very well have won the deal.

To make things a bit more clear, they essentially flipped Souza and Ott for right-hander Joe Ross and a player to be named later who will be shortstop Trea Turner.

Ross was ranked as the No. 10 prospect in the Padres' system heading into the 2014 season, and he did nothing to hurt his stock with a strong performance this past year.

The younger brother of All-Star Tyson Ross, the 21-year-old split last season between High-A and Double-A, going 10-6 with a 3.92 ERA, 1.258 WHIP and 106 strikeouts in 121.2 innings of work.

Per Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com Prospect Watch:

"

Ross throws his fastball, which regularly hits the mid 90s, from a good downhill angle, creating lots of ground balls. His power slider gives him a second above-average pitch, but the development of his changeup will be critical to his future. Though it might still be a few years before Joe is ready to join him in the big leagues, he has the potential to be a middle-of-the-rotation starter in time.

"

His upside is certainly higher than that of Ott at this point, and the Nationals also look to have gotten the better position player in this swap.

Shortstop prospect Trea Turner was the No. 13 pick in the draft this past June, so he is not eligible to be traded until one year after he joined the organization. But he will be the "player to be named" in the deal.

The NC State product was the top college shortstop of the class by a wide margin, and he impressed after signing, hitting .323/.406/.448 with 16 doubles, two triples and five home runs in 279 at-bats between Low-A and Single-A.

Quality shortstops have become such a commodity in today's game that for the Nationals to swoop in and essentially steal one in this deal is huge, especially with the looming free agency of incumbent Ian Desmond.

Given his polish offensively, it's not out of the realm of possibility to think that Turner could be the Nationals' everyday shortstop by 2017.

Grade: A+

This was another brilliant move by Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo here, as he flipped what was a spare part in Souza and a low-level arm for a quality starting pitching prospect and a potential shortstop of the future. Five years from now this could be the best move of the offseason; it was that big of a robbery on Washington's part.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.